copyright

Swiss Federal Supreme Court recently (Sept. 8, 2010) ruled against Logistep AG recognizing IP addresses as personal data, therefore subject to the Data Protection Act. This much awaited and internationally watched decision is a clear signal that companies or industry groups cannot mandate private companies to substitute themselves to justice by intimidating or acting as bounty hunters in our society.

The second important outcome of this decision is the recognition of IP addresses as being personal information falling under the Data Protection Act. This is a step forward in the protection of privacy and personal information increasingly being discussed around the world.
However, this should definitely not be interpreted as Switzerland being a piracy safe haven. Nor should it be considered to mean that pirating content is legal. It only recognizes this fundamental right to privacy in the digital realm and probably that copyright needs a major rethinking on a global scale (not in the traditional territorially based approaches (e.g., HADOPI in France), nor as highly controversial international treaties (e.g., ACTA).

At the end of the day and looking at the reactions of Logistep AG and other industry actors, it is sad to see that we’re still stuck in this old debate of an industry refusing to understand the world has changed, and consequently their business, looking at the issue as an opportunity rather than a threat. Dematerialized services are here to stay. We need to embrace this with the appropriate mindset allowing to accommodate all stakeholders. We have reached the limits of traditional legal approaches to such global issues. Join the conversation…

Beside team communications, this blog features posts written by community members. If you have a Lift account you can also share your thoughts and ideas by clicking here. Here is a post by music producer and veteran Lifter Fabian Kalter about the recent Hadopi law voted in France.

Hello dear french,
I saw my french familiy today, they told me some law is being passed right now making it possible to
"take the internet away" from illegal downloaders. for what greater good again? Oh yes, copyright.
Damn, thats harsh. and idiotic. And it will probably happen in Germany, too.

Yet again some old men in legislature having their old man friends in media whine over their soupe au poisson that sales keep dropping, evil donwloaders destroy art and their income.
Yet again some old men having no idea whatsoever about the present (and future) state of things.

So, I wont get into details here, its another discussion, but Id like to inspire you thinking about what you can do for the future ( of art, media, monetization of copyrights etc.) not only what the future can do for you.

-make it clear that there is no alternative to embracing new technologies. ever.
-make it clear that old men who have no idea about things need to listen or they fall. always.
-annoy the hell out of every single part of the chain of monetization that annoys both the consumers and the artists, dont stop until it breaks.

simple action plans, make up more and make them work!

1.
-find out when the law actually is applicable.
-get a socialist party member of your parliament to open up a bank account (preferably at the bank that handles the money from the "le chtis" production firm - for media attention.
-get all the french internet users to listen, should be an easy task at this moment.
-get them to download bitttorents the hell out of piratebay for the week before the law is applicable
-make everybody wire 10cents for each illegal download to the aforementioned bank-account, preferrably one payment for each download
-make the sum public
-have it all withdrawn the day the law is applicable.

2.
-find out french artists single ( or album) (needs to be a physical release) that has chart potential
(means that it will be ordered by big cd retails)
-contact him (or dont)
-get him in the boat (or dont)
-get plenty of people to buy the release in big cd retails - have to be enough to make the thing enter the charts
(easy thing in a summer week slow in releases )
-dont unseal the purchased disks
-return in LESS than a WEEKS time
-buy another copy
-repeat.

3.
...

4.
....

have fun!